Farooq Abdullah asks his brother to toe party line

Srinagar, Nov 3 (IANS) Farooq Abdullah, union minister for new and renewable energy and president of the ruling National Conference (NC) in Jammu and Kashmir, Thursday asked his younger brother and party spokesman Mustafa Kamaal “to exercise restraint and follow the party policy line on all issues”.

He told Kammal to follow the party policy on issue “pertaining to the policies of the coalition government, relationship with the Congress party, AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) and the role of the army”.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said “certain statements made by Dr. Mustafa Kamaal on the above issues in the past few days are regrettable and are not endorsed by me and do not reflect our party’s policy”.

His statement, issued here, came in the wake of media reports which attributed anti-Congress and anti-army statements to Kamaal.

Abdullah said, “The National Conference is committed to running the coalition smoothly”.

He said that he had “the highest regards for the Congress leadership, particularly UPA (United Progressive Alliance) chairperson Sonia Gandhi-ji and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh”.

He said the “NC values their support to the coalition government in the state”.

Abdullah said the “coalition government is doing a commendable job for the welfare of the people by working for normalcy and accelerating the developmental activities in the state, and in this task the Congress has given great support for which the NC is grateful to them”.

He said while “revocation of the AFSPA is an issue relating to the security and normalcy, there is a political and an emotional dimension to it as well which cannot be overlooked and has to be considered”.

The president of the NC said: “The army is playing a major role in the counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the security of the country and the chief minister is on record having appreciated their role in this regard.”

He said the “coalition government’s resolve to remove the AFSPA from certain parts of the state is no reflection or commentary on the role of the army and the two should not be confused with each other”.

Abdullah said “the NC-Congress coalition is doing a good work and it should be the endeavour of all in the NC and the Congress to strengthen the coalition for the welfare of the people of the state”.

He urged the party workers to work with the Congress cadre in close coordination for the betterment of the state and its people.